Middleton surname meaning

Middleton is an English habitational surname from any of the many places so named. In most counties the elements are Old English midel, “middle,” and tūn, “enclosure” or “settlement”—the farm in the middle. A few places diverge: Middleton on the Hill once shows micel, “great,” and some Shropshire Middletons may hide an older confluence-hill name. The surname is also established in Scotland, Ireland, and among African American families. Place is the clear type, and the middle-settlement reading is high confidence.